Rat Scabies

I started my Middle Aged Punks photographic project back in May and slowly but surely it has taken shape. There are so many figures that I would love to photograph and last month I was privileged to take some portraits of the greatest punk rock drummer of all time, Rat Scabies.

Rat is known as being part of the original line-up of one of the best-ever punk groups, The Damned. Back in the days he had a reputation as being a wild man of the music, a bit like a punk Keith Moon. I first met him back in 1978 when The Damned had reformed as The Doomed for a short time before reverting back to their original name. He was indeed a larger than life figure and musically-wise deserves all his plaudits for being an icon of the time.

Nowadays, at fifty-four years of age, Rat still loves playing live music and keeping active in the scene. It has been fourteen years since he left The Damned and now is the rhythmic powerhouse of The Members. Despite his image, Rat is a softly spoken and humble character who doesn't crave or need to be in the limelight. He can hold his own on pretty much any subject, betraying a clear intelligence and an insightful point of view. Rat also has a deep interest in the Holy Grail and has even been the subject of a book about his search for it called "Rat Scabies And The Holy Grail".